Aligning device



Oct. 27, 1953 c. .J. HARDING 2,656,607

ALIGNING DEVICE Filed Jan. 28, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fig.2

a a a Claude J. Harding mmvron C. J. HARDING ALIGNING DEVICE Oct. 27, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 28, 1952 83 S3 B3 1 l C 0080.1. Harding INVENTOR.

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Patented Oct. 27, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in aligning and gauging devices and the primary object of the present invention is to provide a device for aligning the inter-connected or coupled shafts of a turbine or the like.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for aligning shafting and which also embodies the necessary elements for assuring equal placement of the shaftings in their supporting bearings.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a shafting aligner composed of telescoped supports having novel and improved means for attaching the supports to the adjacent ends of inter-connected shaftings.

A still further aim of the present invention is to provide an aligning device of the aforementioned character that is extremely small and compact in structure, strong and reliable in use, efiicient and durable in operation, inexpensive to manufacture, assemble and install, and otherwise well adapted to the purposes for which the same is intended.

Figure 1 is an elevational View showing the present invention applied to the inter-connected ends of a pair of shafts;

Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end view of Figure l Figure 4 is an enlarged detailed vertical sectional view taken substantially on the plane of 5 section line 6-4 Figure 1 and with the support removed from the socket portion of the fastening member;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary Vertical sectional view of one of the supports shown in Figure 1;

Figure 6 is an elevational view showing the invention in slightly modified form in use for aligning shafts of various diameters and for properly positioning the shafts in their supporting bearings;

Figure 7 is a side elevational view showing the aligning apparatus of Figure 6 employed in conjunction with two shafts of equal diameter;

Figure 8 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view or? a shaft and showing the support fastenings in modified form; and,

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the fastening bracket employed with the fastening member of Figure 8.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose of illustration, there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the numerals l6 and i2 represent a pair of supports that are adapted for mounting on the adjacent inter-connected and coupled ends of a pair of shafts, such as shafts I4 and 16. Support i6 is composed of a plurality of telescoped sections it, 26 and 22. The section l8 carries a set screw 24 engaging section 20 and section 20 carries a set screw 26 engaging section 22, to permit longitudinal adjustment of the sections forming the support II].

A transverse sleeve 28 is fixed to the outer end of section 22 and slidably receives the supporting arm or rod of an indicator or gauge 32 of known construction, such as a Brown and Sharp indicator. The arm 30 is held in sleeve 28 by a set screw 33. The indicator 32 includes a needle actuating stem 36 which is pressed upwardly by a delicate spring. The dial of the indicator is provided with graduations preferably in thousandths of an inch.

Support I2 is also composed of telescoped sections 36, 36 and 40 that are progressively reduced in cross section in the order named. Section 36 carries a set screw 42 that engages section 38, and section 38 carries a set screw 44 that engages section 46, to permit longitudinal adjustment of the sections relative to each other. A transverse sleeve 46 is fixed to the outer end of section 40 and slidably receives a rod element 48 that is held in sleeve 46 by a set screw 49.

Means is provided for detachably securing or retaining the supports on their respective shafts. This means comprises a fastening or holding members 50 and 52. The members 50 and 52 include elongated concave or convex magnetic base plates 54 and 56 whose side edges are pivotally secured to the side edges of elongated concaveconvex side sections or magnetics 5B and 60. The concave surfaces of the base plates 54 and 56 are each provided with a central groove 62 in which rubber strips 64 are frictionally or yieldingly retained. The concave surfaces of the sections 58 and 66 are also each provided with a central longitudinal groove 66 in which rubber strips 68 are frictionally or yieldingly held.

Base plates 54 and 56 are formed with sockets i6 and ii in which sleeves M, of insulating material, are disposed. The inner ends of the sections i 8 and 36 are positioned in the sleeve M of the sockets l6 and T2.

The securing means for these supports may assume the forms shown in Figures 3 and 8. In this embodiment, the fastening members for the base plates 76 of the supports are attached to articulated members :8. The members 18 each include linksections 8!) that are pivotally connested together with one end link section of each member pivoted to its base plate and with the other end link section of each section '88 pivoted to a ball chain 82 having its central portion replaced by a coil spring 84. An angle bracket 84 is pivoted to each base plate and the angle brackets are provided with slotted flanges that will accommodate the free ends of the ball chains 52. In this manner the members is will embrace the shafts and be yieldingly retained thereon to hold the supports it and 1?; relative to their shafts l4 and It.

In practical use of the present invention, the fastening member 59 of the support ii! is applied to the shaft M and the fastening member 52 of the support i2 is applied to the shaft it. The members 553 and 52 are disposed at the adjacent ends of the shafts It and it and the'rod "23 is adjusted to engage the stem 35, in order to placethe needle of the gauge 32 in a predetermined position. Then, the set screw 49 is tightened to retain the needle in its predetermined position. Next, the supports it] and I2 are rotated forwardly with the shafts l4 and Hi to theposition A shown in Figure 3 by dotted lines. A reading of the dial gauge is then made to determine whether or not the shafts i i and [6 are aligned. The supports are next rotated with the shafts Hi and i6 downwardly to the vertical position shown by dotted lines B in Figure 3 and a second reading of the dial made. ports Iii and iii are then rotated rearwardly with the shafts ill and It to the horizontal position shown by dotted lines C in Figure 3 and a third reading of the dial made.

.If the needle of the indicator 32 does not change during the various positionings of the supports it and i2 as illustrated by dotted lines in Figure 3, then shafts M and it are properly aligned. However, movement of the needle of the gauge will require raising or lowering of one of the shafts Hi and is relative to the other shaft. After the shafts have been properly aligned the fasteners Fl joining their flanged ends are tightened in order to retain the shafts in their aligned, coaxial relationship.

Figures 6 and 7 show the invention in slightly modified form, whereby a pair of shafts may be aligned with the pair of bearings for each shaft also aligned with each other to carry an equal portion of the weight of their supported shafts. In order to accomplish this resul the sleeves 28a and a of the supports Ilia and E21! are again provided with set screws 33a and 49d that respectively engage the supporting rod 30a of an indicator 32a and a horizontal rod element am. The rod element 48a is disposed coaxial with and engages the needle actuating stem 34a of the indicator 32a.

A small post element ii is fixed to and rises from the sleeve 33a and a tube [3 is telescoped over the upper end of the post element H and is held thereon by a set screw l5. A horizontal sleeve l1 formed at the upper end of the tube l3 slottably receives the holding arm or rod l9 of an indicator 3%?) having its needle actuating stem 2| extending downwardly into contact with a vertical rod element 23 fixed to and extending upwardly from the sleeve Mia. A set screw 25 carried by the sleeve ll engages and prevents sliding movement of the rod [9 in sleeve l'l after the stem 2| has been aligned with the rod element 23.

The supports Mia and l2a include holding members a and 52a whereby the same may be applied and held on the adjacent ends of a pair The sup- 4 of different diameter shafts S and SI. The shaft S is supported in a pair of bearings B and the shaft Si is supported in a pair of bearings Bl. The adjacent flanged ends of the shafts are coupled together by ciroumferentially spaced fasteners F that are loosened to permit slight lateral adjustment of the shafts until they are aligned with each other.

The gauge or indicator 32a will permit the shafts S and St to be aligned by observing the needle of the indicator 32a as the supports and shafts S and Si are rotated degrees, degrees, 270 degrees and 360 degrees and moving the shafts relative to each other until the needle of the indicator fails to change during rotation of the supports to the desired stopping points.

Since the gauge 32a is responsive to angular displacement of the shafts S and Si. the gauge 320. may show the shafts S and SI in alignment even though the shafts S and Si are not coaxial. The gauge 32b is responsive to offset instead of angular displacement. Consequently, if bearings B and Bi are not coaxial, the shafts S and Si will rotate about different axes so that the gauge 32?; will indicate the axial offset of the shafts in their bearings and the bearings may be moved back and forth until no movement of the needle for the indicator 32b occurs as the supports Ilia and i241 are rotated with the shafts 90 degrees, .80 degrees, 270 degrees and 360 degrees. Then, the fasteners F are tightened in order to hold the shafts coaxial with each other.

The above procedure may also be followed for two shafts S2 and S3 of equal diameter and are supported in pairs of bearings B2 and B3 respectively, as shown in Figure 7 so that the shafts will be aligned with each other with each bearing carrying its share of the weight of i its shaft.

Obviously, the fastening members 56a and 52a include in conjunction with the supports Na and I20. of Figures 6 and 7 may be replaced by the mechanical fastening members or articulated members '58 illustrated in Figure 8 of the drawings so that the supports may be rotated to a desired position and retained in such position by the action of the spring 34 rather than the magnets forming the fastening members.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

Having described claimed as new is:

1. A shaft aligner comprising a pair of supports, means carried by each of the supports for attaching the same to adjacent ends of a pair of shafts, an indicator mounted on one support and having a needle actuating stem extending toward the other support, and a rod element carried by said other support engaging the stem, said means comprising a curved magnetic base plate, a pair of curved magnetic base plate sections hinged to the base plate, and a rubber strip carried by each section and said base plate.

the invention, what is 2. A shafting aligning apparatus comprising a pair of supports each composed of telescoped sections, a pair of concavo-convexed magnetic base plates having sockets formed thereon, said supports having inner sections held in said, sockets, a pair of concavo-convex magnetic base sections p-ivotally secured to each base plate, a rubber strip carried by each base plate, additional rubber strips carried by each base section, an indicator supported on one of said supports and having a needle actuating stem disposed perpendicular to both supports, and a rod held on the other of the supports disposed coaxial with and. engaging the stem.

3. A shafting aligning apparatus comprising a pair of supports each composed of telescoped sections, a pair of concavo-convexed magnetic base plates having sockets formed thereon, said supports having inner sections held in said sockets, a pair of concave-convex magnetic base sections pivotally secured to each base plate, a rubber strip carried by each base plate, additional rubber strips carried by each base section, an

indicator supported on one of said supports and having a needle actuatin stem disposed perpendicular to both supports, and a rod held. on the other of the supports disposed coaxial with and engaging the stem, and an insulating sleeve in each socket embracing the inner sections of said supports to prevent the magnetic base plates and sections from interfering with the reading of the indicator.

CLAUDE J HARDING,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 487,427 Poole Dec. 6, 1892 1,295,936 Spellman Mar. 4, 1919 1,339,384 Douglas May 11, 1920 1,848,527 Hickey Mar. 8, 1932 2,461,143 Clifford Feb. 8, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 566,250 Germany r Dec, 13, 1932 

